Laughter is the best cure for all ills.

O positive influence laughter on life expectancy was written by ancient thinkers. Later, during the Middle Ages, laughing in public was not accepted for cultural and religious reasons. Laughter was associated with the machinations of the devil. But it is impossible to completely forbid people to laugh, because this is the reaction of the body, which is sometimes impossible to control.

The man who made death laugh

Explore laughter with scientific point vision began only at the beginning of the 20th century. And in 1964, the first case of successful treatment with laughter therapy was registered. American journalist Norman Cousins ​​suffered from a rare and very severe form of joint inflammation. The disease affected the entire skeletal system. The doctors could not help him. With the consent of his doctor, Norman left the hospital, rented a hotel room for three weeks, and watched non-stop comedies all the while. He did not stop laughing and recovered.

Patients treated with laughter therapy take fewer painkillers

The mobility of the joints was restored, Norman was able to return to work and even play tennis. Cousins ​​dedicated a book to his miraculous healing. A separate science about the benefits of laughter has appeared - helotology. Norman Cousins, nicknamed "the man who made death laugh," even lectured at medical university even though he was not a doctor.

Laughter cure

Laughter affects the body in three ways.

• First, it gives a load on the muscles. In this regard, laughter can be called pleasant gymnastics or compared to a short jog. Along the way, laughter stimulates work digestive system. When we laugh, the abdominal muscles tighten, followed by the smooth muscles of the intestines. As a result, peristalsis improves.
• Secondly, laughter engages the respiratory system. It provokes irregular breathing, similar to what yogis practice: inhalation, retention, and then a series of short exhalations. This kind of breathing emotional relaxation. The lungs are completely freed from air, gas exchange is accelerated. This helps lower cholesterol and normalize blood pressure.
• And finally, the third act– psycho-emotional: when we laugh, the brain produces more endorphins (hormones of happiness), which relieve pain and tension, and more neurotransmitters responsible for good mood, pep, memory and sleep. It is believed that patients treated with laughter therapy take 30% less painkillers.

Laughing is allowed

Laughter is nature's most important defense mechanism against stress. According to the theory of evolution, any reflex helps in the preservation of the species. Of all the living creatures on Earth, only humans can laugh. Perhaps it was laughter that helped us survive. And it still helps.

Laughter helps you find mutual language With strangers and become part of the new team. Many business consultants advise their clients to specifically prepare appropriate jokes for difficult negotiations. The ability to correctly defuse the situation in time has. To those who know how to laugh and sincerely laugh, people are more likely to be imbued with trust. Laughter brings together, unites and relieves stress. It is purely psychologically more difficult to argue with a person with whom you just laughed heartily together.

In addition, laughter is a way to resist circumstances, it is easier to experience crisis moments. It has long been observed that when the economy is down and living standards are down, comedy shows rise in ratings. And there is nothing wrong with watching them. Laughter is the most accessible medicine for depression and some diseases.

About the expert

- French neurologist, specialist in the treatment of depression and chronic fatigue syndrome. Author of the books Psychosomatics of Laughter (Psychosomatique du rire, Broché, 2003) and Hidden Depression: Identify, Control and Release (La dépression masquée: L "identifier, la maîtriser, s" en libérer ", Poche, 2001 ).

Laughing together over something is great. AT childhood we laugh a hundred times a day, but as we grow older, life becomes more serious and we laugh less and less. However, laughter is really the best medicine, and completely free.

"Letidor" will tell you what diseases can be cured by laughter, how to improve your emotional state, strengthen relationships with your family, and most importantly, how to learn to laugh again.

Why is laughter so beneficial?

- Relaxes the body. Laughing heartily relieves physical tension and stress. It is important that the muscles remain relaxed for another 45 minutes after this.

- Strengthens the immune system. Laughter lowers stress hormones and boosts the production of immune cells and antibodies that fight infection, thereby increasing resistance to disease.

- Promotes the production of endorphins. They affect the emotional state and can temporarily reduce pain.

- Protects the heart. Laughter improves the condition of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which is a natural defense against heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems. vascular system.

- Burns calories. Of course, it is not a replacement gym but laughing for 10-15 minutes a day can burn about 40 calories - enough to lose a couple of pounds a year.

- Prolongs life. A study in Norway found that people with a good sense of humor live longer than those who laugh less.

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The difference was especially noticeable in people who are being treated for cancer.

How laughter unites people and strengthens relationships

Do you know why TV sitcoms use jokes and laughter so much? Yes, because they are contagious! You will laugh many times more often if other people around you do the same thing.

Laughing together is one of the most effective ways to maintain good relations. Joint emotional experience allows you to build strong and lasting bonds. Laughter also adds joy, vitality and resilience. Humor is powerful and effective method to resolve resentment and disagreement.

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Even in hard times laughter brings people together.

Humor and fun communication strengthen our relationship. When we laugh with others, a positive connection is created. It acts as a strong buffer against stress, disagreement and frustration.

Humor and laughter in relationships allow:

- Be more spontaneous. Humor allows you to put problems out of your head.

- Move away from a defensive position. Laughter helps to forget resentments, judgments, criticisms and doubts.

- Stop holding back. Laughter removes your fears about the need to constantly hold back or be shy.

- Express your true feelings. During laughter, deeply hidden emotions come to the surface.

How to learn to laugh

Laughter is an inherent innate human ability, our natural part of life. Babies begin to smile during the first weeks of life and laugh out loud within a few months of birth. Even if you grew up in a family where laughing often and from the heart was not accepted, you can learn to do it at any stage of life.

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Start by identifying special moments for yourself when you can be funny.

Eventually, laughter will become an integral part of your life, and whatever you do, it will come naturally to you.

Here are some ways to get started

Smile. Smiling is the beginning of laughter and, like laughter, it is contagious. When you look at someone or see something even slightly pleasant, smile. Instead of looking at your phone, look and smile at the people you pass on the street, the person who serves you your morning coffee, or the employees you ride with in the elevator.

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Pay attention to how it affects others.

Mark what makes you happy. Literally make a list. Even just remembering something good in your life will allow you to distance yourself from negative thoughts that interfere with humor and laughter. When you are sad or sad, you need to travel more, or at least just walk, to smile and laugh more often.

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When you hear laughter, look for its source and ask: “Why are we laughing?”

Spend time with fun people. These are people who easily laugh at themselves and at life, they usually find something funny even in everyday events. Their point of view is always optimistic and their laughter is contagious. Even if you don't consider yourself a carefree person with a good sense of humor, you can still seek out the company of people who love to laugh and make others laugh. Every comedian values ​​an audience.

Is it necessary to laugh violently

So what do you do when you really can't "find anything funny"? Believe me, you can laugh without a special event - artificial laughter can be just as useful for you as a real one. A Georgia State University study found that incorporating simulated laughter into an exercise program helped improve older adults' mental health as well as their aerobic endurance. Also, when we hear others laugh, even without apparent reason, we, too, can suddenly laugh sincerely.

How to develop a sense of humor

Try to laugh at situations instead of being sad. Look for the funny even in a negative situation and make fun of the absurdity of life. When something bad happens, try to find a way to turn the situation into a joke that others will laugh at.

Surround yourself with items that remind you of something fun. Keep the toy on the table or in the car. Hang a funny poster in your office. Choose a computer screensaver that will make you smile. Post family photos.

Remember funny things from the past. If something funny happens or you hear a joke or funny story that you really like, write it down or tell someone else to remember it.

An open heart is the best medicine.

You have repeatedly heard the expression - laughter is the best medicine, in fact, even in greatest book of all time - the Bible encourages laughter. There is no better medicine. At times it happens that laugh and support good location spirit becomes difficult. The current state of the economy, financial difficulties, difficult times do not contribute to a good mood. However, instead of letting difficulties get the best of you, you can turn your eyes to the funny side of life. Great idea Especially since laughter is contagious. It not only gives us a charge of positive emotions and joy. But it can also become trigger mechanism to initiate positive changes in the body. It's completely free, so start adding a daily dose of laughter to your life.

Benefit for health.

There is a fair amount of truth in the idea that laughter can indeed be a medicine. Laughter has a powerful effect on the body, promotes relaxation, relieves stress and muscle tension, even the immune system gets a boost when a person laughs. Endorphins are released, which contribute not only to a feeling of happiness, but also to temporary pain relief. Laughter increases blood circulation, it has a positive effect on the state of blood vessels, which will help you protect yourself from problems with the cardiovascular system. So don't forget to laugh every single day.

mental benefit.

Naturally, laughter is very beneficial for your emotional and mental health. Negative emotions such as sadness, anxiety, irritability are dissipated. When you laugh, your stress level is reduced, which frees up energy and helps you refocus. The whole perception of life changes, which helps to perceive life situations not as threatening, but more realistic. The feeling of being overwhelmed dissolves with just a few chuckles.

Laughter unites.

Laughter benefits not only as a medicine for the body and soul, but also gives great benefit in social sphere. Laughter brings people together. It helps to strengthen relationships, establish emotional bonds between people. Humor helps to break through detachment and closeness, to express your feelings without any problems. It is very important that even in difficult times, laughter can unite people.

Happiness and laughter are matters of your choice.

Laughing and being happy is not easy. However, you may find that your choice will determine whether you will be happy and whether you will laugh. Abraham Lincoln said something like this: "Many of us are as happy as our consciousness allows." It is you who determines whether you will laugh and live happily or let life ruin your existence and drag you through difficult circumstances. No matter what life circumstances you encounter, it will always be in your power to choose happiness.

Ways to add some laughter to your life.

So what can you do to add more laughter to your life? How do you choose laughter? Here are some tips to get you started:

Start smiling, this is a harbinger of laughter, and this is also contagious.

Start focusing on the good things you have. Make a list of the good things in life. This will help build your focus away from the negative things that prevent you from laughing.

If you hear people laughing nearby, go in that direction. Spend more time with fun people. Actively look for laughter.

Try to inject some humor into your conversations. You don't have to joke below the belt. It might just be funny story, or encouraging interlocutors to tell funny stories.

How to see the bright and funny sides of our lives

From time to time life throws us difficult situations, however, it is important to learn to find a lighter and more fun side in them. In fact, this is the only way to survive the crisis. Here are some tips to help you look at the world around you more fun:

1. Don't be afraid to laugh at yourself. Learn to take yourself not so seriously. Even if you suddenly find yourself in an awkward situation, learn to get out of it with a laugh.

2. Laugh instead of crying. This is very a good idea to overcome difficult situations, learn to find funny even in bad situations. This will create a mood, and it will be easier for you to overcome such situations.

3. Paste reminders everywhere for yourself, so that you do not forget to pay attention to the bright and happy side of life. It can be family photos or photos of your friends in those moments when they are having fun. Pick a funny poster for home and office, funny screensaver or desktop wallpaper.

4. Learn to manage stress. Stress is a serious hindrance to laughter and good mood. You should choose for yourself effective method fight stress.

Life throws us challenges, and there's no getting around it. And even if you do not have the opportunity to choose what life will bring you tomorrow, you can choose how you respond to these events. Why not use laughter to overcome life's challenges, in order to make a choice in favor of happiness.

Laugh This is the best cure for all diseases! Every person has many reasons to be sad. Our problems may arise for a long time annoy, which affects the well-being, while capturing the psyche. As a result - stress, mental disorders, complexes, fears.

You can and should help yourself. People who often go to the bathhouse or get a massage say that after the session it is as if they were born again, having received a dose of relaxing therapy. But the state of relaxation lasts a couple of days, since such procedures, as a rule, are aimed at relaxing the muscles, but not the psyche or emotions. That is, you can help yourself temporarily, but you need to take care of a more capacious process of “carrying out dirt” from yourself. And this is a change in attitude towards life and towards oneself.

Scientists have found that in our brain there are areas responsible for the physical and positive outlook on life. If these zones are stimulated, then a number of diseases can be cured. Medications there is no influence on the influence of these zones, but there is one remedy that is easily accessible, not bitter like pills and generally has a lot of pleasant moments - this is laughter.

Laughter is like a key

It is known that laughter good mood carry and can even influence the well-being of a person. It also has a number of advantages over drugs. For example, it will not harm either the liver or the stomach, that is, it is harmless - it has no side effects. If a person has certain doors between life and himself, then laughter can be the key that opens these doors. Various fears, complexes, stereotypes, even cynicism - we ourselves may not realize how many of these doors we have created in us. All these doors are sometimes created in order to protect themselves from the pressure of life's troubles. The problem is that then these doors begin to put pressure on us. Our task is to learn how to use the key to first open the door, and then open it towards positive life. At first there will be no global changes, but a sip of the new will still happen.

Laughter therapy

It is well known that there laughter therapy, which in itself is a potent antidepressant. Laughter can relieve tension, which helps to physically feel better, and if used correctly, you can achieve an action that, in general, will help you relate to problems differently. Laughter releases a lot of wasted energy. Then the body will learn to direct this released energy into the direction where it is needed - restoration or rejuvenation.

Help yourself to laugh

The practice of laughter therapy used all over the world. There's a problem that everyone faces" laughter therapists How to make a person laugh. Any means is of help - audio recordings and video jokes, tickling, but it happens that people do not like one of the comedians, or there is no mood, then these recordings are simply annoying. There is no one method for all. But you can find a way out - everyone knows how to laugh. Experts concluded that we train laughter. In order to laugh, you don't need any external stimulus, just trust your laughter like a friend, and, as a rule, this will not be a particular problem. When you have already learned to “turn on” laughter, experts will help you go deeper into laughter therapy.

There is also a small difficulty - after when you have already learned to “turn on” laughter, but have not yet learned to “turn it off”. Your instructor will tell you how to learn how to do and stop laughing - nothing is impossible for a person who is willing and able to help himself.

Gradually, everything that accumulates in a person will be swept out - nervous system , psyche, physiology and even intellect will be cleansed, your condition will become stable, you will learn to treat life easier, life will become easier, happier. The people who surround you will notice this and will be drawn to you, because you want to communicate with an easy person who laughs at difficulties.

Based on materials from the journals "Saturday Evening Post" (USA) and "Psychologie Heute" (Germany).

Laughter yoga class in India.

American nurse Alison Crane founded the Applied and Therapeutic Humor Association in 1987. The Association, which is based in California and aims to promote laughter as a healing tool, includes doctors, nurses, psychologists, clowns, priests, actors, writers and people of many other professions. According to the president of the organization, psychologist Edward Dunkelbrough, patients listen to the doctor more attentively, trust him more and learn the recommendations better if the doctor twists jokes from time to time and often smiles in a conversation. Humor helps to maintain a good mood, and this is always very important, especially in case of illness.

About forty years ago, the American writer Norman Cousins ​​became seriously ill with a rare disease of the bones and joints, his whole body ached constantly. The doctors could not help him, and then he put a movie projector in front of his bed and began to watch comedies. And when he got tired of watching, he read funny books. After a year and a half, he was able to return to normal life.

As experiments recently conducted at the University of Maryland (USA) have shown, laughter has a good effect on the heart and blood vessels. Three hundred participants in the experiment were shown a heavy film about the war and a light comedy film. At the movie screening of battle scenes, the audience's blood pressure increased, as blood vessels constricted from stress. Comedy caused vasodilation. The difference in vessel diameter (measured by ultrasound) under the influence of movies was 30-50%, which is usually achieved only with the help of effective means from pressure or special vascular training.

The Indian therapist Madan Kataria, having read Cousins' book "Anatomy of a Disease" (by the way, it was also published in Russian translation), founded "laugh yoga" clubs in India in the 80s of the last century. According to him, violent laughter increases oxygen consumption, reduces stress, promotes the production of natural analgesics in the brain - endorphins, and thus improves the condition of both sick and healthy people. Now 6000 clubs of Dr. Kataria work in 65 countries of the world.

Robin Dunbar, a psychologist from Oxford University (England), emphasizes that for a therapeutic effect, laughter must be violent and it is desirable to laugh not alone, but in a company. After just 15 minutes of watching a very funny comedy, the pain threshold in Dunbar's experiment increased by 10%. In a group, as his experiments showed, a person's humility rises thirty times.

Japanese doctors measured the blood sugar of diabetics after a long boring lecture about diabetes and after a movie comedy of the same length. Watching the comedy led to a drop in blood sugar. This is thought to be due to increased muscle activity during laughter as the sugar is used up and oxidized. The authors of the work recommend that diabetics laugh as often as possible.

Dr. Mary Bennett of Western Kentucky University has been studying the effects of laughter on health for 16 years. She says that laughter not only promotes the production of hormones that act against pain, but also reduces the synthesis of stress hormones - adrenaline and cortisol. According to her, laughter has a good effect on the endothelium - the inner lining of blood vessels. Cholesterol is more easily deposited on the inflamed endothelium, constricting blood vessels, and laughter relieves its inflammation.